Intake of dietary fiber reduces risk of disease flares in patients with Crohn’s disease, but not ulcerative colitis, researchers report in the August issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Recommendations to limit dietary fiber should therefore be re-evaluated. Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) have been associated with an abnormal mucosal immune response to

Dysbiosis contributes to the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) by altering colonic expression of genes that regulate inflammation and the immune response, researchers report in the July issue of Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology. An altered intestinal microbiota composition has been associated with IBD. However, it is not

Polymorphisms in susceptibility genes appear to promote development of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) by altering the abilities of immune cells to sense protective signals from the microbiome, researchers report. These findings help fill the missing link between genetic risk variants for IBD and dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiome. More than

Altering the intestinal microbiota of mice can reduce the extent of brain damage after a stroke, researchers found. These findings provide a previously unrecognized link between the intestine and the brain. The composition of the intestinal microbiome affects development of the immune system and metabolic processes, and is altered in

Undifferentiated or crypt-like, and differentiated or villus-like, human intestinal enteroids represent distinct points along the crypt–villus axis and can be used to characterize electrolyte transport processes along the small intestine, researchers report in the March issue of Gastroenterology. Studies of their duodenal enteroid model showed that electrogenic Na+/HCO3– cotransporter 1 in the

Three new studies show that intestinal bacteria protect children from malnutrition and allow them to benefit from breast milk. Malnutrition, the world’s leading cause of death before age 5, is a persistent challenge that is not always remedied by improvements in nutrition. This is because the community of gut microbes regulate growth,

Babies born by Cesarean section (C-section) are not always exposed to bacteria and other microbes present in the birth canals of their mothers—a factor that some studies have associated with health risks later in life. Now, researchers present preliminary data indicating that microbial communities could be at least partly restored

Analysis of microbes from the gut of the Iceman—a 5300-year-old Copper Age European glacial mummy—provides insights into not only his health status right before he was murdered, but migration patterns of humans and their microbiota. Helicobacter pylori, one of the most prevalent human pathogens, is globally dispersed but has a

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) do not have a large effect on microbial diversity of the colon, but do affect specific taxa, including Streptococcaceae and Enterococcaceae, which mediate resistance to Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), researchers report in the October issue of Gastroenterology. This finding might provide a mechanism by which these drugs increase risk for CDI.

Despite promising findings from 2 studies of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in patients with ulcerative colitis, the technology should remain in clinical trials and is not ready for routine practice in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), write Ari M. Grinspan and Colleen R. Kelly in an editorial. The success of FMT

About the Author

Dr. Kristine Novak is the science editor for Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. She has worked as an editor at biomedical research journals and as a science writer for 15 years, covering advances in gastroenterology, hepatology, cancer, immunology, biotechnology, molecular genetics, and clinical trials. She has a PhD in cell biology and an interest in all areas of medical research.